Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010 • Hacker News Board

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#71

Post by bbatsell » Mon, May 10, 2010, 8:41 PM UTC

ergo98 wrote: post #49

ben1040 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak on behalf of the grandparent poster but my gripes are not at all with the N1 hardware itself -- in fact the N1 is quite possibly the best put together phone I've owned. My issues are with Android and how it still feels rough around the edges. 1) Lack of an integrated mail tool. I really don't care so much about POP/IMAP folder integration but why do I need two email apps, one for Gmail and one for IMAP.…

>For example, Android has a running process list with an option to kill tasks on the phone. Android does not have this. There are third party applications that do task management, however the word "placebo" applies to most advocates of them, and user task management should never be necessary. If the system needs resources it dehydrates tasks and terminates them, and this is a cardinal foundation of the platform. The…

> If the system needs resources it dehydrates tasks and terminates them

Has the OS been fixed such that it monitors CPU and network radio usage by background processes? Task killing isn't done to reclaim the RAM (which, as you note, the OS handles itself), it's to ensure that poorly-written programs don't waste your battery without your control or knowledge.

iPhoneOS 4.0 gets around this by only allowing apps in the background to use a tightly defined set of APIs, the actual processing code of which is written entirely by Apple, so they have full control over their effect on battery life.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#72

Post by ergo98 » Mon, May 10, 2010, 8:47 PM UTC

DrSprout wrote: post #69

ergo98 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I get a list of running tasks with their corresponding package names That gives you get a list of running services. Further, in no way is a user ever directed to go there for any reason. You have no reason to ever go into that screen.

Sure I do. I use it to kill the exchange email sync, because it triples battery usage even when I have it set to not sync (I believe this has something to do with the fact that it's just scraping Outlook Web Access, not actually connecting with Exchange, which is impossible outside of the firewall.) And I use it for this sort of thing frequently. Most services pull down battery life considerably.

>I believe this has something to do with the fact that it's just scraping Outlook Web Access, not actually connecting with Exchange

It communicates with Exchange Web Services, just like every other Exchange integrating smartphone product. It isn't "scraping Outlook".

>And I use it for this sort of thing frequently.

I've never, ever touched it.

>Most services pull down battery life considerably.

Sure. How, exactly, have you measured this?

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#73

Post by Retric » Mon, May 10, 2010, 8:52 PM UTC

jamesbritt wrote: post #60

webwright wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can think of a major market: operating systems. Phones aren't like cars, they are more like computers (and becoming more so).

Right. People own a variety of computers. Different models of Dell, HP, sony, apple., etc.

Also known as: Windows, Windows, Windows, or OS X.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#74

Post by rimantas » Mon, May 10, 2010, 9:06 PM UTC

barmstrong wrote: post #63

revaaron wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd only used an iPhone for 6 months, but the experience was positive enough that I'm still in the headache phase with the N1. Largely over hardware problems that will likely never be solved until a later revision: battery life, AMOLED screen being unreadable in direct sunlight, the camera can take 1-4 seconds before snapping a photo, dust under the screen, low-end multitouch sensor, and flaky touch sensing (often th…

N1 software still isn't quite as good as iPhone. But here are 4 reasons I prefer my N1: 1. the navigation app is better than what you can get on iPhone (use it almost every day) 2. Native Google Voice App 3. 5 megapixel camera phone (for me this was the threshold where I never carry a separate digital camera anymore, 5MP is enough for facebook) 4. I can use t-mobile instead of AT&T Given the software isn't quite as g…

See dimensions of the photo you have on FB. Most likely 5Mpx is 10x that.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#75

Post by revaaron » Mon, May 10, 2010, 9:09 PM UTC

krschultz wrote: post #23

revaaron wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience over the last few weeks spent using a new Nexus One as a former iPhone certainly supports this. Frankly, I'm stunned at the difference in quality and breadth of applications available in the App Store vs Android Market- compared to the App Store, the Market is like Softpedia or Tucows...

The install base of the iPhone still dwarfs Android, this is unit sales for one quarter. The iPhone has been out for a while longer than Android. But if this quarter a sign of things to come, what platform do you want to be selling apps on long term?

I'd have to agree with slyn- both. I think it's most likely I'd be selling apps for Android in the long term, if only because I don't have to live by 3.3.1...

I wouldn't be surprised if a divide not unlike Mac vs PC software developed- traditionally, Mac users were a smaller group but more willing to pay for overall better software.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#76

Post by InclinedPlane » Mon, May 10, 2010, 9:19 PM UTC

Volscio wrote: post #27

martythemaniak wrote: post #5

I think Android outselling the iPhone (and eventually overtaking it in raw numbers) will soon become pretty obvious. Android is a pretty mass-market product - its flexibility means that manufacturers can put a wide array of products and users can make those products their own. I really don't think a single product (especially a tightly-defined one like the iPhone) can meet even a majority of people's needs.

Just wait till an Android tablet comes out.

I can't think of a reason why a device maker couldn't put google Chrome OS on a tablet (which would be a closer approximation to the iPad).

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#77

Post by revaaron » Mon, May 10, 2010, 9:22 PM UTC

barmstrong wrote: post #63

revaaron wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd only used an iPhone for 6 months, but the experience was positive enough that I'm still in the headache phase with the N1. Largely over hardware problems that will likely never be solved until a later revision: battery life, AMOLED screen being unreadable in direct sunlight, the camera can take 1-4 seconds before snapping a photo, dust under the screen, low-end multitouch sensor, and flaky touch sensing (often th…

N1 software still isn't quite as good as iPhone. But here are 4 reasons I prefer my N1: 1. the navigation app is better than what you can get on iPhone (use it almost every day) 2. Native Google Voice App 3. 5 megapixel camera phone (for me this was the threshold where I never carry a separate digital camera anymore, 5MP is enough for facebook) 4. I can use t-mobile instead of AT&T Given the software isn't quite as g…

I'm a proud father of a two year old the long lag of the N1's camera makes it near worthless. Doesn't matter if it's 5 or 10MP as long as it takes over a second to snap a photo.

I was impressed by the iPhone's camera, but that's only because I was coming from an HTC Mogul, which had a horrible 2MP camera.

That I can (mostly) do what I want with my N1 without relying on a jailbreak is what makes the N1 a win, overwhelmingly. That said, it is ironic and frustrating that your warranty is voided when you unlock your bootloader, a part of rooting a N1. It doesn't matter if there is dust under the screen, they see the "unlocked" icon and turn down warranty requests.

At least, they were- I'd love to hear that things have changed... Unless that changes I won't be rooting my N1, and I'm glad I didn't do that first thing- I just had to send my two week old N1 in for a swap to HTC because of dust under the screen. :/

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#78

Post by revaaron » Mon, May 10, 2010, 9:27 PM UTC

ergo98 wrote: post #68

ben1040 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Android does not have this. If I go to "Applications > Settings > Running Services" on a stock 2.1 Android phone I get a list of running tasks with their corresponding package names. Tapping one of them terminates the task. It's not "top" but it's still pretty close to a process manager. A user shouldn't have to care that "com.google.process.gapps" is running "MailSyncAdapterService." >Because the gmail app has diff…

>I get a list of running tasks with their corresponding package names That gives you get a list of running services. Further, in no way is a user ever directed to go there for any reason. You have no reason to ever go into that screen.

The reason I have is killing tasks like Camera, which appear to chew away at the battery even as they sit in the background... It wasn't until I started using a task manager that I started getting decent battery life out of my N1.

The first week, I followed the party line- I didn't touch a task manager. And the first week I was seeing 20% of my battery drained by 10 AM in the morning while using it for under 15 minutes since I pulled it off the charger.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#79

Post by grinich » Mon, May 10, 2010, 9:29 PM UTC

dagw wrote: post #34

moultano wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that matter to us? When I'm deciding what to support as a developer I care only about the size of the platform.

If all you care about is number of potential users you should target either S60 or JavaME.

Or HTML/JS.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#80

Post by revaaron » Mon, May 10, 2010, 9:35 PM UTC

papachito wrote: post #64

revaaron wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@ergo98: The 3GS is indeed crippled, but an objective user would be hard pressed to call it inferior. In the end, to each their own- some folks (including myself) are willing to put up with the limitations of the N1, and some folks are willing to put up with the limitations of an unjailbroken iPhone.

This is a threaded forum, you don't need to use the @ergo98 thing like on twitter.

heh, thanks for the heads up! A habit from other threaded boards, even though the syntax is twitter. Some folks still manage to get confused about who is speaking to whom- but point taken, this isn't slashdot. :)